Bulldogs Defeat Albion, 20-6, In Football Opener

Sep 06, 2008

Sophomore quarterback Matt Kobli passed for
230 yards and two touchdowns to lead Butler to a 20-6 victory over
host Albion at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in Albion, Mich., on
Saturday (Sept. 6). It was the second straight year that the
Bulldogs opened the season with a victory over the Britons.

Kobli, making just his third collegiate start, completed a
career-best 25 of 32 pass attempts for a career-high passing total.
He gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with an eight-yard touchdown
pass to sophomore Eddie McHale less
than two minutes into the second quarter, and he found senior Luke Johnson
with a 16-yard scoring strike early in the fourth period.

The Butler quarterback completed his first 12 pass attempts in
the game to tie the previous school record for consecutive
completions, set by DeWayne Ewing against Valparaiso in 2001! Kobli
hit on 19 of his first 21 pass attempts against the Britons.

Albion scored first in the game on a 26-yard field goal by
Mychal Galla with 3:17 remaining in the first quarter. But Kobli
and McHale hooked up to give Butler the lead five minutes later,
and the Bulldogs never looked back. A 24-yard field goal by senior
Jordan
Quiroz with 3:30 left in the second quarter and a 39-yard field
goal by Galla at 1:21 of the second period left Butler with a 10-6
halftime lead.

Butler added 10 more in the second half on the Kobli to Johnson
touchdown and a 23-yard field goal by Quiroz, while Butler's
defense turned away every scoring attempt by the Britons. The
Bulldogs limited Albion to 248 total yards, including just 85 on
the ground.

McHale, getting his first Butler start, led nine Butler
receivers with a career-best seven catches for 63 yards, while
senior Alex
White, who returned after being sidelined for two seasons with
injury, added five catches for 42 yards. Junior Ricky Trujillo,
getting his first collegiate start, led Butler's rushers with 45
yards on 11 carries.